Perhaps Requite
by Faoiltierna
Summary: Sometimes you shouldn't try to settle; go for what you really want.


Title: Perhaps Requite

Characters: Zell, Quistis, Girl with Pigtails

Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just a fan.

A/N: You might see a bit of another familiar story as well...

i ...and as the Heroes looked on, they saw behind Aerith in the Lifestream the form of Zack Fair; the two were joined once again, forever, as they were always meant to be. /i

Zell slammed the book shut on the table and glared at it in disgust. It wasn't that he minded a little romance mixed in with his action-adventure...it was the annoying, overly flowery language and poetic angst of iSwords Over Gaia/i's author that got on his nerves. People who died didn't get some weird 'happily in the everafter,' "and what was up with all the 'Lifestream' and 'Materia' stuff? Like anyone's going to believe that!" he muttered aloud as he tilted his chair back to balance on two legs.

iThat is likely why it was shelved under 'Fantasy,'/i Quetzacotl, the Guardian Force Zell had junctioned, commented sleepily. It felt like little feathers of electricity fluttering in his mind when Quetz talked, but Zell had grown used to it since the Second Sorceress War.

"Isn't imy/i fantasy," he said with a snort.

Minea, the girl with pigtails and the reason Zell was hanging out in the Library on such a nice day, came around the row of bookcases to hiss at him. "Shh! I'll only be a little longer...you said you would be quiet! Read a book or something."

Zell resisted the urge to roll his eyes until she left again. iAnother one? Sheesh./i

Truth be told, most looked at Zell Dincht and saw only the brash, often overly-enthusiastic young man he was...few realized he was also a voracious and fast reader and had a wide neat streak. He'd read iSwords Over Gaia/i after finishing the two magazines he'd brought with him. He'd been waiting almost three hours for Minea to finish her shift...all the books on that aisle were now in their proper alphabetical order.

The blond sighed and tried balancing the chair he was in on a single leg. Of course this would be when Quistis Trepe, fellow SEED and Balamb instructor, happened by.

"Zell!" the blonde snapped. "Are you itrying/i to hurt yourself?"

Zell grabbed at the table as surprise caused him to lose his balance. This did not prevent the chair from tipping over however. Only his own GF augmented, and quite literally, lightening-fast reflexes prevented him from following it...and taking the table with him. As it was he winced as he heard the wood under his fingers crack as he caught himself. "Uhm, hi Quisty," he mumbled, turning red.

"That's Instru..." she stopped herself, he was no longer one of her students, but the habit was deeply ingrained. "That's iQuistis/i. Zell. And what do you think you were doing?"

He stood up and righted the chair. Though he had gained a couple of inches in the last year, which required constant training to cope with his change in reach, and was now on level with Quistis in her heels, she still made him fell like a raw recruit, green and easily flustered by her mere presence.

"I was waiting for Minea. To finish her shift." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her through his lashes. "I asked her out to dinner."

Quistis pinched the bridge of her nose above her glasses. "Not here. There!" Her other hand pointed to the chair.

"Oh. Uhm, yeah. I was bored," Zell said.

She looked up at him over the rims, her hand falling away. "In a library? Why don't you read a book?" She spotted iSwords Over Gaia/i and picked it up off the table. "Like this one; it is one of my favorites."

"Yeah, that's what Minea told me," he said with a shrug.

"Oh yes." Quistis sighed. "Trepie Fourteen."

"Minea," Zell repeated.

She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. "If I use their names they get..." she grimaced, "excited. Much easier to call them by their numbers."

Zell frowned. "But...you know their names and you know which one is which...doesn't the fact you remember their proper number mean you..."

"Shh!" She stepped closer, close enough he could smell the subtle floral perfume she favored. She glanced to either side before telling him, "It is an understanding of mutual convenience. As long as I do not single one out by name they keep a respectful distance!"

His frowned deepened. "How do you put up with that? I mean, they're always in your business, they know all about you...they wanna be you."

She shrugged, making it look graceful. "I am a role-model, Zell. Just as Squall is; just as iyou/i are. It comes with the job."

He scoffed. "Squall wouldn't know a groupie if one bit him...though I have seen more moody loner-types lately." Zell cocked his head to one side. "It's really weird seeing them travel in packs though."

Quistis giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Yes, it is."

He spread his hands out, fingers wide. "As for me...I don't see anybody following my every move, do you?"

She considered him for a moment. "What of all those students in your classes?"

"Hand-to-hand is a required subject. You should know that, Instructor," Zell said with a grin.

Quistis, a faint frown forming, started to say something when Minea returned.

"All right, Zell, I'm off now...Instructor Trepe!" Minea stopped in her tracks and her face turned pink as her eyes went wide.

"Right." Zell took her by the arm and steered her away, her head remaining locked on her idol. "Later, Quistis!"

***

Two hours later Zell was, if anything, more bored. The restaurant was one of his favorites; the food was good, the service was excellent...it was the company that was the problem. Since they had left the library all Minea could do was talk about how wonderful Instructor Trepe was.

Zell already knew how wonderful Quistis was, but he was trying to move on with his life, not dwell on the unattainable. Trepie Fourteen...Minea, was making that difficult in so many ways.

iWho is she junctioned with?/i Quetz asked suddenly. iWe've not seen her take a breath in over five minutes./i

The fighter choked on a laugh. His date handed him his water glass, but did not pause in her story. He was glad, actually. Trying to explain a GF's sense of humor to someone who had never carried one was...not easy. iShe'd...probably notice if we cast Silence on her, wouldn't she?/i

He felt Quetz withdraw to the non-aural part of his mind. iI am here when you need me./i

iCheater./i Zell picked up his glass then set it down again three inches to the right so that the two watermarks on the table just touched. He was just finishing a pattern of six when he heard an expectant silence from the other side of the table. He looked up to see Minea frown disapprovingly. "Sorry. What?"

"I asked, 'What were you and Instructor Trepe discussing in the library?'" she said with a huff.

He shrugged. "You know...stuff." He decided to try one last time to salvage their date; asking about Minea's hobbies and interests had been a complete disaster. "So...do you like to dance?"

"Did ishe/i mention dancing?" Minea asked, her eyes wide.

Zell sighed. "No. I asked if you liked dancing."

"Oh." She sat back in her seat. "Not really."

"Well," he said with a deep breath. He pushed himself to his feet. "This has been...well. I'll get the check on my way out," he waved at her untouched food, "feel free to stay and finish your meal. Sorry I can't stay and keep you company," ibut you are boring me to tears!/i Zell smiled at the astonished Trepie Fourteen and took to his heels.

***

Outside the air was warm. iAnd quiet, thank Hyne./i The sun hadn't yet set, so Zell decided to take a walk along the seawall to clear his head before going back to the Garden. Sure, he could go see his Ma...but she would ask him how the date went. Sighing, he stopped and leaned on the low wall and looked out to sea.

He stayed like that for some long moments until the wind shifted briefly, bringing him the faint scent of Quistis's perfume. He turned his head to see her a hundred or so yards away, resting on a bench, nose buried in a book.

Zell debated if he should interrupt her or not. On the one hand he knew she hated being stalked...on the other hand she would likely find the humor in his failed date, without laughing iat/i him. On the third...wait, thirdly...Zell sighed again, deciding just to head back to the Garden.

As he passed behind her bench however Quistis looked up and saw him. "Zell. What are..." She paused then restarted, "How nice to see you."

He laughed. "Seriously? You don't want me to tell you what I'm doing here?"

She shook her head. "As you were raised here in Balamb I fear it would be a rather long story," she said with a smile.

Zell made a face at her. "Yeah, well, how about the short sweet version then? Surprise, surprise, Trepie Fourteen spent our entire date talking about you."

Quistis winced. "I feel I should apologize for that."

"Oh no, I learned so much. For example," he waved at the ocean, "did you know that if a really big wave were to come in right now, you could walk to safety and not get wet?"

She glared at him over the edge of her glasses causing him to laugh again. "Don't let me keep you from your walk," she said turning back to her book.

He suppressed his chuckles and stepped up to the bench. "Sorry, Quisty Quistis," he hastily corrected himself. He noticed the title of the book. "iSwords Over Gaia/i again?"

"It is one of my favorites," she defended. "It is a classic love story."

"Boy meets girl, boy dies, girl dies and they are reunited in some weird afterlife is inot/i a classic love story," Zell told her.

She raised her eyebrows. "You have read it." She moved her legs off the bench and sat upright.

"This afternoon while waiting for T14." He threw himself onto the bench beside her, hands in his pockets, head on the seat back, slumped down and with his legs stretched out in front of him. "The action stuff was all right, I guess, but the guy telling the story overdid it on the poetic tragedy of it all." Zell rolled his eyes.

"It...is a bit flowery," Quistis admitted. "I am surprised you don't identify more strongly with the main character however."

He turned his head to look at her. "The one with the silly name and big a...sword? Just because he has blond spiky hair? Nah. To be honest, he reminded me more of Seifer."

Her eyebrows rose again in silent inquiry.

"Misplaced savior complex. 'Cept Cloud picked the right side...and his sorceress died," he said.

"Hm. You really did read it," Quistis said.

"You don't need to sound quite so shocked. I passed all my tests didn't I?" Zell slumped down further, tapping his feet alternatingly.

Quistis considered him. "True. I just...have a hard time envisioning you staying still long enough to read a book."

He shrugged. "It doesn't take that long. 'Specially if the author isn't boring you with pedantic prose."

She opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. "You...are a lot smarter than most people give you credit for."

Another shrug. "I guess. Almost have to be, really, most people think I'm fairly stupid." He looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "But to be really good at fighting involves more than just muscles."

"True. I guess...the way you act, people just forget that." She smiled ruefully. "I know I tend to and I apologize for that."

"Yeah, well," he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose I could try being a little less...exuberant."

She laughed. "No, Zell. You do work hard...it's okay to have some fun."

"Like dancing?" he asked with a wince, remembering how his date with Minea had ended.

"Dancing?" she repeated.

"Yeah, I asked T14 if she liked to dance." He snorted. "Maybe if I had told her you enjoyed dancing she probably would have said yes. As it was..."

Quistis leaned sideways toward him. "But I do like dancing," she whispered. "I just..."

"Don't? Why not?" Zell asked. iWhy not? Don't ask, don't get, right?/i He stood up and offered her his hand. "Want to?"

"I..." She looked at his hand then at him. "I shouldn't."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"What will people think?" she asked.

"'Look, Quistis is dancing. Where can I get lessons?'" he guessed. He grinned at her.

That made her laugh. "You may have a point there." She looked at his hand again, still held out waiting for her. "All right. I will!" She put her hand in his.

"Yeah!"


End file.
